英 文

　　粵港澳大灣區(qū)建設的步伐正在加快，為解決香港的一些棘手難題提供難得契機。廣州南沙區(qū)率先向港澳長者開放養(yǎng)老床位，首批提供50個專屬床位。暫時床位不多，卻令人眼前一亮。相比本港安老，港人回灣區(qū)內地城市安老有多項優(yōu)勢，包括床位充足、成本廉宜、空間較大等，特區(qū)政府應該抓住機遇，為鼓勵更多長者回廣東安老提供配套措施，將好事辦好。

　　2022年《南沙方案》出臺后，南沙區(qū)政府在為區(qū)內港澳居民提供安老服務方面先行先試，日前推出《南沙區(qū)公辦養(yǎng)老機構入住本區(qū)港澳老年人實施方案》，助力南沙打造港澳長者的“心歸處”。首批提供的50個床位，屬于五星級的安老機構，已有3人入住。其中之一的何伯曾入住香港安老院，經過觀察比較后，最終選擇到南沙安老，他對現(xiàn)在的安老院贊不絕口：“這里環(huán)境宜人，餐飲實惠又美味，服務優(yōu)質，在結婚紀念日、教師節(jié)、香港回歸日這些特別日子里，工作人員還為我們慶賀，親如一家人?！?/p>

　　何伯的現(xiàn)身說法，令人感慨。安老是香港老大難問題之一。首先是安老宿位長期供不應求，公營安老院舍環(huán)境較好，可惜宿位少，輪候時間長，每年都有數(shù)千人等到死都住不上。雖然政府也向私營安老院舍買位，但成本高昂，數(shù)量亦有限；其次是空間不足，香港安老宿位只有約100平方呎，活動空間小，容易導致心情壓抑；其三是安老院護工不足，需要從內地輸入，今年還要增加輸入數(shù)量。但輸入內地勞工也面對如何安置的難題，隨著內地生活水平持續(xù)改善，兩地收入差距不斷收窄，從內地請人的難度勢必越來越大，非長久之計。可以說，在香港現(xiàn)實條件下，安老服務的挑戰(zhàn)越來越嚴峻，回內地安老可取分流之效，也是必然的選擇。

　　傳媒早就報道過，港人回灣區(qū)內地城市安老優(yōu)勢多。廣東地域廣闊，有大量空間建安老院且速度快；內地安老院空間普遍寬敞，人均面積約300呎，且有棋牌室、跳舞室、圖書室等設施；內地安老院精細化，可提供多種選擇。最重要的是，內地安老院豐儉由人，以廣州為例，便宜的月費2000元，一般是3000元，附帶老年大學的高級療養(yǎng)院收費約7000元，比香港仍然便宜得多。

　　既然內地安老有這么多好處，廣東省也有玉成此事的意愿，為什么特區(qū)政府不順勢而為呢？正如有人建議，特區(qū)政府可以與灣區(qū)內地城市的安老機構合作，買下大量宿位；特區(qū)政府或相關機構還可以北上置業(yè)，最好是整棟大樓買下，作為老年公寓。這樣做的好處是，一來成本低，除深圳、廣州外，其他二、三線城市的樓價不到香港的十分之一；二來香港長者集中住在一起，有親切感，容易適應也方便管理；三來，隨著交通基建的完善，一小時優(yōu)質生活圈形成，在內地安老的長者回港也方便。港人回內地安老的最大后顧之憂是看病問藥，隨著港澳藥械通政策的落實，適合港人看病的醫(yī)療設施不斷增加，問題迎刃而解。如果父母在內地安老，子女可享免稅額，相信吸引力會更大。

　　共建大灣區(qū)，通過對區(qū)內資源的最優(yōu)化配置，可幫助香港解決不少香港本身難以解決的問題，安老只是其中之一。特區(qū)政府及香港社會放眼大灣區(qū)，眼界就開闊了，思路就暢通了，關鍵還是拿出魄力，該幹就幹。

Riding the wave of construction of Greater Bay Area to solve the problem of elderly care services

　　The pace of construction of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (Greater Bay Area) becomes faster and faster, offering hard-to-come-by opportunities for Hong Kong to solve some? thorny problems. Guangzhou's Nansha District has taken the lead in gradually opening residential places of nursing homes to eligible elderly people from Hong Kong and Macao, with 50 care beds exclusively for Hong Kong and Macao elderly people offered as the first step. Although the number of beds available at the beginning is small, the move is rather eye-catching. Compared to staying in Hong Kong, there are advantages for elderly Hongkongers go and reside in public care institutions in Greater Bay Area. For instance, beds available are sufficient, cost low while space big. To encourage more elderly people to go to Guangdong and spend their remaining years in comfort, the SAR Government must seize the opportunity to launch supporting measures so that such a good thing can be done well.

　　Following the unveiling of the Overall Plan for Deepening Globally Oriented Comprehensive Co-operation amongst Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao in Nansha of Guangzhou in 2022, Nansha District Government began to play a pioneering role in providing elderly care services to Hong Kong and Macao people residing in the district. Days ago, it unveiled the Implementation Plan for Opening Government-supported Elderly Care Institutions in the District to Hong Kong and Macao People Residing in the District to help turn Nansha into a “Place for Peace of Mind” for Hong Kong and Macao elderly people. The first step was to provide 50 care beds in five-star institutions, three of which has already been taken. Ho Pak, one of the three, had resided in a Hong Kong elderly home before. After observing and making a comparison, he eventually decided to spend his remaining years in Nansha. He spoke very highly of the elderly home he now resides in: "Here, the environment is pleasant, food affordable and delicious, and services of good quality. On special days such as wedding anniversary, Teachers' Day or the anniversary of Hong Kong's return to the Motherland, staff members would hold celebrations for us, like we are family."

　　One cannot help but sigh with emotion upon listening to Ho Pak's description of his own experience as an example. Elderly care is one of Hong Kong's thorny problems. Firstly, demand for residential elderly care places always exceeds supply. While in better environment, government subvented homes regretfully have fewer places, so the waiting time is quite long. Each year several thousand elderly people died in waiting. Although the government also buys places from private institutions, but the cost is high and the number limited. Secondly, the space is not sufficient. In Hong Kong, a residential care place is about 100 square feet. Small living space could easily lead one to feel blue. Thirdly, elderly homes in Hong Kong are short of care workers and have to import workers from the Mainland. This year, the number of workers to be imported will increase. But importing workers from the Mainland also has the problem of helping them settle down. As the living standards in the Mainland keep improving, income gap between the two places keeps narrowing. Hence hiring workers from the Mainland becomes increasingly difficult and thus cannot go on for long. It may be said that given Hong Kong's reality, elderly care become an increasingly tough challenge. As a result, some elderly people going back to spend their remaining years in the Mainland could have the effect of diversification, and is also a must.

　　As already reported, there are a lot of advantages for elderly Hongkongers to go back and spend their remaining years in Greater Bay Area cities. Vast in area, Guangdong has enormous space to build elderly homes, and the speed of construction there is fast. Elderly care homes in the Mainland are spacious, with 300 square feet per person. And an elderly home normally also has a board-game room, dancing room, library and other facilities. Adopting delicacy management, Mainland's elderly homes could offer multiple choices. More importantly, Mainland's care homes are suited for all budgets. Taking Guangzhou for example, the monthly fee for a place could be as low as 2,000 yuan while it is 3,000 yuan in general, and goes up to 7,000 yuan in a high-end nursing home with an attached university for the elderly. Even so it is till much cheaper than in Hong Kong.

　　Since there are so many advantages for elderly Hongkongers to enjoy care services in the Mainland and Guangdong is willing to make it happen, there is no reason for the SAR Government not to take advantage of such an opportunity. As suggested, the SAR Government could cooperate with elderly homes in Greater Bay Area cities and buy a large number of care beds. The SAR Government and relevant institutions could also go north to buy property. It'd be better to buy whole buildings and use them as apartments for the elderly. There are benefits for doing this. One is low cost. Apart from Shenzhen and Guangzhou, housing prices in second-tier and third-tier cities is less than 10 per cent of that in Hong Kong. The second is that elderly Hongkongers living together would feel familiar with each other and become easy to adapt, which would also facilitate management. The third is that a one-hour high-quality ling circle will be formed with the improvement of transport and infrastructure, making it easy for elderly Hongkongers residing in the Mainland to travel back. Elderly Hongkongers' biggest worry for living in the Mainland is how to see the doctor. This will be easily solved with the implementation of Measure of using HK registered drugs and medical devices used in HK public hospitals in Greater Bay Area and the increase of medical-care facilities available for Hongkongers. It would be even more attractive if tax allowances could be given to children whose parents are residing in Mainland care homes.?

　　Co-construction of Greater Bay Area and through maximised allocation of resources in the area could help Hong Kong solve many problems that could hardly be tackled by itself. Elderly care is just one of them. Keeping an eye on Greater Bay Area, the SAR Government and Hong Kong society could broaden their vision and smooth their thinking. The crux of the matter is to show courage and determination and do what it should be done.